


Got There in the End

by vaderina



Series: Welcome to the Family [3]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 13:01:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9236261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vaderina/pseuds/vaderina
Summary: Percival wants to find the perfect way to propose to Newt. So he enlists the niffler's help.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta read.  
> Don't own the characters, only the typos and mistakes.
> 
> Please note that there is a minor amount of blood in this fic - Newt cuts his hand by accident!

It had been three weeks since Newt met the Graves family. Thinking about the weekend still left him reeling. Percy’s parents were so…nice. They were everything his own parents never could be and more. However, since then Percy had been acting strange. It wasn’t anything too noticeable but still off. He would spend time with the niffler now, occasionally presenting him with some trinket or other. And whenever the niffler needed a shakedown he was always there, volunteering to do the tickling. He’d also become more affectionate with Newt. There were more cuddles on the sofa, shy hand holding and on one unforgettable occasion even a quick peck on the cheek at the end of lunchtime in the cafeteria od MACUSA. It was wonderful yet it left Newt feeling on edge. Was this Percy trying to be nicer to soften the blow of some bad news? Was Percy trying to force himself to like Newt more than he did? In the darkest of his moments Newt even thought that perhaps Percy was just being nice to him to make him toe the MACUSA line. He usually managed to quickly brush those thoughts off though, they very rarely lingered beyond a momentary lapse of sanity.

Percival in the meantime was caught up in a veritable storm of emotions. Once they got home from his parents’ house he had tickled the niffler until he gave up his hoard. Amongst it lay two gold rings. They were simple bands, the slightly thinner one had a small pattern engraved along the edges, nothing ornate, just enough to make it interesting. He knew they were his grandparents’ rings and the very thing that Ma had been referring to on the sly. Percival was torn, he wanted to give the ring to Newt, get down on one knee and ask him for his hand in marriage. But at the same time he was scared. What if Newt didn’t feel as strongly about them as he did? Or what if he did but didn’t think getting married all that big a deal? Percival could drive himself mad with the endless possibilities and outcomes if he asked Newt. So he did the only thing he could think to do. He started paying even more attention to Newt. He’d make a serious effort to have lunch with him at work, to sit on the sofa with him as they read and wrote respectively. He’d even kissed him on the cheek in public to try and show just how much he appreciated the other man. Newt seemed to accept his affections with his usual, somewhat limited, grace.

In addition to all this Percival had started to plan how he would propose to Newt. Ideas came and went but none of them seemed to be perfect. He thought of taking Newt to a restaurant, both of them dressed in their finest suits. He could slip the ring in Newt’s drink and surprise him. On second thought, knowing Newt he would probably swallow the ring before noticing it or even choke on it. That was his first idea out the window. The second plan also ended up going the same way. A romantic walk back from an evening out, they could take a shortcut across Central Park and once they were on the bridge he could go to one knee and propose under the moonlight. Though Newt would probably get distracted by something in the park and trip of Percival where he knelt and the ring would roll away, never to be found again. It took Percival many hours to come up with more and more elaborate plans only to discard each new one quicker than the previous one. In the meantime the niffler had developed an over attachment to the rings and was forever trying to steal them. This caused Percival no end of irritation and worry. He didn’t want Newt to catch onto the fact that he had rings or that he was planning to do anything with them until he was good and ready. The end result was Percival doing ‘niffler duty’ each evening, tickling the creature until he was sure the rings were safely stashed away somewhere new for the creature to hunt down. The perfect idea presented itself by pure luck. He and Newt were down in the case, finishing off the evening rounds when Percival spied the niffler waddling up to his caretaker. He stood on two hind legs and was digging round in his pouch until his paws withdrew a familiar looking ring. Thankfully Newt was too preoccupied with squeezing venom from the swooping evil to notice anything. Percival dove for the niffler and wrestled the ring away before Newt could turn. With the imminent danger averted Percival cast a thoughtful glance at the creature. Of course that’s when Newt took a step back from his workstation and went sprawling with a surprised shout. He crashed to the floor in an ungainly heap, legs caught over Percival’s shoulder. He looked at Percival with a stunned expression.

“Oops?” he offered then he looked at his hand. “Ah.”

The vial full of the swooping evil venom had shattered on impact, neon blue goo dripped down his fingers and mingled with the blood pouring from his palm. Percival watched with a wince as he plucked a shard of glass out of the cut. Niffler and proposal plans forgotten he leapt into action. He grabbed a cloth to wipe as much of Newt’s hand clean, taking care not to push any more glass into his hand. He worked quickly but gently, using magic where he could to clean and heal the wound. However the venom had an interesting reaction to magic so he couldn’t work purely with his limited first aid magic knowledge. Throughout all of this, Newt sat there quietly, seemingly unfazed by his injury.

“You okay there?” he asked gently. Newt hummed in agreement. Percival bent his head to catch the younger wizard’s eye.

“Sure?”

“Yeah. Can’t even feel it really. Happens more often than I like to admit.” Newt mumbled and averted his eyes again. That’s when Percival realised that the other man was embarrassed. He smiled indulgently, trying to ease the rising tension between them.

“Blame the niffler.” he suggested. Newt hummed again but the corners of his mouth ticked upwards. Percival found some bandages in the first aid box half hidden under a small mountain of notes and scribbles. He gently wrapped the injured hand and kissed it once he had tucked the end of the bandage away.

“All better.” he announced. Newt’s gaze flicked up to his.

“Thank you.”

They stared at each other for a little longer. Percival broke away first, only because the niffler was next to him again and eyeing up his pocket. The image catapulted his previous train of thought to the forefront of his mind. He had the perfect way to propose. Now he just needed the niffler to cooperate.

The following few weeks Percival spent, for want of better words, niffler training. They practiced and every time the niffler did the correct thing Percival rewarded him with a small shiny trinket. Soon the niffler could produce the ring from his pouch and hold it up with the most hopeful look he could muster on command. As soon as Percival scooped the creature up from the ground and knelt down, the niffler whipped the ring out of his pouch. It was almost a shame that their training was coming to an end. Percival and Newt were in the kitchen of their shared apartment. Newt was busy preparing vegetables when the niffler brushed against Percival’s leg. In a moment of spontaneity Percival scooped the creature up from the ground and knelt behind Newt. He was about the clear his throat when he noticed the niffler’s mistake. Rather than the ring, he was holding up a giant fake ruby. He probably thought it was a nicer gift for Newt than the plain gold ring. However it didn’t have the same meaning. Percival panicked. His mind screamed “abort! Abort!” repeatedly and he tried to salvage the situation. Newt was turning. He mustn’t see this. Percival did the only thing his addled mind could come up with. He dropped the niffler and his hands went for Newt’s belt. Newt let out a surprised squawk and the impromptu advances. Percival shrugged mentally. It wasn’t like they hadn’t done this before, just never during making dinner. Still, if Newt thought this had been his intention all along then it was okay. Better to be thought a randy old goat than have a spoilt marriage proposal. And the look on Newt’s face was worth the sore knees he will have the next morning. Definitely worth it.

His knees were indeed aching the next morning. Their dinner was burnt too so they had a large breakfast to make up for it. Percival was distracted the whole day at work, thinking about trying to propose to Newt again in the evening. As long as the niffler didn’t get any more bright ideas about what made an appropriate gift for signifying the intentions of marriage they were okay. Finally evening came when they headed home. Newt left a little earlier than Percival and was already down in the case when Percival caught up with him. He was cooing at the occamies as he fed them. Percival still chuckled when he heard Newt refer to himself as mummy. He walked behind the other man and trailed a hand across his waist in greeting. Newt looked up at him with a smile but otherwise carried on with the occamies which were now trying to slither up his arms. Percival stopped at the niffler’s nest. They looked at each other and the niffler clambered into Percival’s outstretched hand. With an arched eyebrow Percival prompted the niffler to produce the ring from his pouch. Satisfied, Percival walked back behind Newt and knelt. Newt however seemed lost in his own world, an occamy on top of his, three more slithering up his arms and another draped over his shoulders. Percival cleared his throat. Newt stepped back as he turned and suddenly Percival was thankful he had left a bit of space between them. He didn’t want a repeat of the other week. He was so lost in his musings he almost missed the look of surprise on Newt’s face before all emotions shuttered off. That was not a good sign. Percival began to worry. Still, he needed to be absolutely clear and leave nothing to chance.

“Newt,” he began, “I love you, will you make an honest man out of me?”

Newt took a step back and his hands grabbed the edge of the occamy nest in a white knuckled grip. He’d gone wide eyed and pale, his hands shook as they moved behind him. Percival stood, this was definitely not a good sign. Then the tears started. Big silent drops trickled down Newt’s face. Percival sighed.

“I’m sorry. I guess I misread the situation.” he offered glumly. The niffler was still sitting in his palms, staring at Newt with large, hopeful eyes. He pushed the ring towards Newt with a small whine.

“No.” Newt croaked. Percival nodded sullenly. He shouldn’t have asked, he should have known Newt wouldn’t want him. The niffler drooped in his palms as he lowered the creature down.

“You didn’t read it wrong.” Newt’s voice was barely audible. He wiped his cheeks with the back of a hand. “Sorry.”

Hope blossomed in Percival’s chest. He took a step closer to Newt who looked up at him with a wobbly smile.

“It’s about time I made an honest man out of you.” Newt offered a lopsided smile. Then his hands went into his pocket and produced a small box. Upon opening it, Percival was flummoxed to see a ring nestled in it.

“You beat me to it by an hour.” Newt laughed. Percival couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing too. The niffler prodded Newt in the leg and held up the ring once more. Bending down, Percival took the ring and offered it to Newt who in exchange slipped the ring from the box onto Percival’s finger. It took them a good while before they made it up into the apartment after that.


End file.
